Nuit Blanche taps into spirit of Expo 67
In a year replete with events marking Montreal and Canada’s respective anniversaries, Nuit Blanche is looking to another historic milestone — 50 years since Expo 67 — for thematic inspiration. The 14th edition of the city’s annual latenight party on March 4 that caps the Montréal en lumière festival will feature 200 mostly free activities, including a number fuelled on nostalgia and civic pride.
Quartier des spectacles, open from noon till 3 a.m., remains the centre of the night’s festivities, with other events happening in Old Montreal and in the Plateau/Mile End. The Parterre on St-Urbain St. and de Maisonneuve Blvd. will serve as the Expo 67-themed zone. At 9 p.m., Les Vikings will spin a free, outdoor DJ set exclusively of hits from 1967. An hour prior, Canadian singer Coleman Hell will headline a set on the main stage on the corner of Ste-Catherine St. W. and Jeanne-Mance St. Otherwise, expect a familiar mix of ziplining, libations and art installations around Nuit Blanche’s home base. Underground City gallery Art Souterrain will also return, to go along with the new Illuminart trail of light-based art pieces.
Frei Otto’s tent-like German Pavilion may be long gone, but Nuit Blanche revellers will be encouraged to make their own paper versions at the Goethe-Institut (1626 St-Laurent Blvd.), which will then be added to a much larger installation. The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (185 SteCatherine St. W) is asking people to participate in a different way — a workshop where you can design your own Expo pavilion for 1967, today or 50 years in the future.
Drapeau’s Expo Slideshow will feature slide shows and artifacts celebrating the grandeur of the event at Maison de l’architecture
du Québec (181 St-Antoine St. W.).
At the McCord Museum (690 Sherbrooke St. W.), a preview of future exhibit Fashioning Expo 67 promises to capture the sharp fashion sense of the era, while at 8:30 p.m. Les Requins will play the music of the ’60s in Hommage à l’Expo 67. A series of Expo 67 archival videos will be shown at art gallery Arsenal (2020 William St.), while 10 objects that defined Expo 67, courtesy of historian and collector Bruno Stenson, will be presented at Musée du Château Ramezay (280 Notre-Dame St. E.).
The city’s gaming sector will once again play a prominent role in Nuit Blanche proceedings. City hall will have giant-sized games and an Expo 67 photo booth. Local video-game festival Montréal Joue will be presenting Moveo, a large remote control with sensors that plays retro games, on St-Denis St. between SteCatherine and de Maisonneuve.
At the Phi Centre (407 St-Pierre St.) in Old Montreal, local afterparty organizers Moonshine will host La Nuit Tribe. Tupi Collective, ABAKOS, Mark Clennon, Pierre Kwenders and Bonbon Kojak will be providing the musical component. Another music collective, Artgang, will reinvent the Biosphere in a club setting at their namesake venue (6524 St-Hubert St.). Plateau concert venue Café Campus (57 Prince Arthur St. E) is celebrating a 50th birthday of its own with a summer of love dance party.
As in previous years, the métro will run all night at regular cost and a free shuttle service over four routes from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.